Rock outfit Helmet [ tickets ], which has been off the radar since the last millennium, reemerges in September with a new album and supporting tour.

The five-week club trek kicks off in Atlanta on Sept. 17, three days after Helmet's new studio set, "Size Matters," lands in stores. The album is the band's first collection of new material since 1997's "Aftertaste."

Helmet's resuscitated lineup features founding member/frontman Page Hamilton, along with guitarist Chris Traynor (Orange 9mm), drummer John Tempesta (White Zombie) and bassist Frank Bello (Anthrax). Absent from the mix are any of the band members who played with Hamilton on the group's previous albums.

"They were great musicians," he said of his ex-bandmates in a press release. "I knew back in 1997 that we needed a year off. We were getting on each other's nerves, but I wasn't ready to quit. People can hear those old records and there's a certain kind of nostalgia attached to them. But really, it's all about the vocabulary of the music. I think if you found someone who had never heard Helmet and played them a track from 'Aftertaste' and the new album, back to back, they would think it was the same band."

Hamilton produced "Size Matters" with assistance from producer Jay Baumgardner and musician Charlie Clauser (Nine Inch Nails). The album features the new single "See You Dead."

Helmet rose to fame on the strength of its full-length debut, 1992's "Meantime." The set spawned the singles "Give It," "In the Meantime" and "Unsung." The group also scored hits with the soundtrack cuts "Just Another Victim"--a song from the 1993 film "Judgment Night" that paired the group with hip-hop act House of Pain--and "Milquetoast" from 1994's "The Crow."